Arthur Steven Lange, Jr. (born October 11, 1967), known as Artie Lange, is an American actor, comedian, radio personality, and author best known for his tenures with the The Howard Stern Show and the comedy sketch series Mad TV. He was also the host of a sports and entertainment radio show called The Artie Lange Show.

Lange performed his first stand-up comedy routine at 19 years of age. He took up work as a longshoreman to help support his family following the death of his quadriplegic father. In 1995, Lange starred in the first season of Mad TV before leaving halfway through the second due to cocaine abuse and his subsequent arrest. After a period of rehabilitation, Lange featured in Dirty Work (1998) with Norm Macdonald, who brought Lange into the second season of his sitcom, The Norm Show. In 2001, Lange joined The Howard Stern Show until December 2009 when a suicide attempt in January 2010 led to an eight-month stay in a psychiatric ward. In 2011, Lange returned to radio with Nick DiPaolo to co-host The Nick & Artie Show. In January 2013, it was renamed The Artie Lange Show after DiPaolo's departure.[5]

Lange was born on October 11, 1967[6] in Livingston, New Jersey, and raised in Union Township. His mother, Judy (née Caprio), of Italian descent, was a housewife, while his father, Arthur Lange, Sr., of German and Native American descent, was a general contractor. His sister Stacey is a fashion designer.[citation needed] Two weeks after Lange's birth, his father went on trial for counterfeiting money but was spared jail time out of the court's sympathy for his young son.[6]

Lange attended Union High School and took up baseball where he became an all-county third baseman.[8] He spent his free time working with his father, who in October 1985, became quadriplegic after he fell off a ladder and broke his back.[9][10] Money soon became an issue within his family, and Lange's mother took a secretary job for income. Lange recalled, "We took out a second mortgage. Medicaid paid for a nurse eight hours a day. When my mother got back from being a secretary all day, she had to take care of him. Every night, she set her alarm clock to turn him so he wouldn't get bedsores."[9] In 1987, the family contacted celebrities asking them to donate items for auction, and Howard Stern, the only one to respond, sent an autographed K-Rock jacket and said on the air, "Does this guy think that if he puts the jacket on he's going to walk again?", which Lange and his father found funny.[9] His father died from complications of an infection on February 1, 1990, four-and-a-half years after the accident.[6][11]

In August 1985, Lange was arrested for attempted bank robbery. He claimed he was trying to flirt with the teller by passing her a note that said he was armed and demanded $50,000. The teller took it seriously, triggering a silent alarm. He was charged with disorderly conduct and entered community service in March 1986.[12] As part of his probation, Lange attended the Connecticut School of Broadcasting from March to June 1987 as well as Seton Hall University for a short time before leaving. On June 12, 1987, at 19 years of age, Lange performed his first stand-up comedy routine at The Improv in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan. "I bombed for five minutes. Everyone thinks that they can do better. I was unprepared, I mumbled, and I forgot stuff. But I'm proud that I did it."[2] In February 1991, Lange took up work as a longshoreman at Port Newark to help support his family.[13][14]

In 1992, Lange quit his job at Port Newark to focus on his comedy career. While searching for such work, his regular form of employment was driving a taxi in New York City.[15] The flexibility of the job allowed him to perform 20-minute sets at the Comic Strip and resume work afterwards.[16] Within the year Lange landed a role in a dinner theater play, touring restaurants and catering halls in New Jersey.[17] He then co-formed an improv troupe called Live on Tape, which led to the group performing sell-out shows at Caroline's on Broadway in Manhattan.[18] Lange was taken by William Morris Agency, where he first met Peter Principato, his manager of ten years.[18]

In May 1995, Lange flew to Los Angeles to shoot the television pilot for Mad TV, a sketch comedy show that was picked up by the Fox network.[19] He landed a role as one of the eight original cast members from 8,000 comics who were screened, and moved to the West Coast in July.[20] Lange attributed his hiring to the fact that he fit the John Belushi "mold" that was popular in sketch comedy.[21] His most popular recurring character on the show was "That's My White Mama".[22] Lange returned for the filming of the second season of Mad TV in August 1996,[23] but his time with the show came to an end when fellow cast and crew members attempted to have an intervention for him after a cocaine binge. Lange fled the studio, running through streets with his co-workers chasing after him. It ended in a supermarket, where he was arrested and sentenced to time served and probation.[22]

Lange attempted suicide for the first time in 1995, he explained the attempt saying "... (I) ran out of cocaine, so that was depressing. So I took a bunch of pills and they put me in a psych ward at Cedars-Sinai in Beverly Hills.”[24]

In March 1997 the producers persuaded Lange to enter rehabilitation, and he checked into Honesty House, a rehab center in Stirling, New Jersey, for two months.[25] His contract was not renewed for the third season, but Lange would make cameo appearances during the fifth and tenth seasons, including the show's final episode on May 16, 2009.[26]

After Lange served a short jail term and a drug rehabilitation program, comedian Norm Macdonald, impressed by Lange's work on Mad TV, offered him a part in the 1998 movie Dirty Work. Although the film was unsuccessful during its theatrical run, Lange credits Macdonald and director Bob Saget with rejuvenating his comedy career, leading to several more film appearances and two lucrative television development deals.[27] He then joined the cast of Macdonald's sitcom The Norm Show during its second season, staying until its cancellation the following year. Lange has since described this period as a personal high point but a creative low point. He enjoyed being paid $35,000 an episode, sleeping late, and being in healthy physical shape, as well as working with the cast, particularly with Macdonald and Laurie Metcalf; however, he disliked the show itself, referring to the material as "ridiculously lame, easy jokes."[28]

Lange was introduced to The Howard Stern Show by his father in 1982.[9] Following the departure of comedian Jackie Martling from The Howard Stern Show in March 2001,[citation needed] Stern announced a "Win Jackie's Money" contest in which various comedians would audition for Martling's seat by sitting in during shows. Those who sat in included Craig Gass, Doug Stanhope, Richard Jeni, Jeff Ross, Jim Florentine, and Ron Zimmerman.[29] Lange commented about the contest: "There were a lot of great funny guys - guys that were funnier than me ... I remember saying to my manager, 'I am not the most talented guy in this group, but I guarantee that I'm the biggest fan of the show."[2] When The Norm Show ended in April 2001, Lange sat in for a number of shows between May and October before beginning full-time on October 26, 2001.[30]

In 2004, Lange recorded and released his first comedy DVD, It's the Whiskey Talkin'.

In June 2005, Lange missed four days of shows, prompting concerns of a possible relapse into substance abuse.[citation needed] The situation climaxed in Lange's behaving strangely and belligerently on the air.[31] Lange then missed the next two days, writing off his absence as due to stress from doing the radio show and filming his film Artie Lange's Beer League.[citation needed] The truth for his absence was revealed in a spontaneous revelation on September 21, 2006, in which Lange acknowledged that he had regularly snorted heroin.[32] He discussed past episodes of heroin use beginning when he was a standup comedian and continuing until Beer League was set to begin shooting.[31] He then detailed his painful withdrawal from the drug, which included side effects of aching, cold sweats, shaking, and vomiting. Lange recalled taking his telephone off the hook to avoid speaking to his mother, who ultimately intervened to help him recover.[citation needed] Lange was threatened with legal action by producers of Beer League if he failed to show up for the first day of shooting, which led him to secure a home visit from a doctor, who prescribed Subutex to alleviate his dependency.[31]

In December 2005, Lange was offered $5 million to replace Stern on terrestrial radio with a show co-hosted by Gary Dell'Abate.

On April 10, 2008, Lange walked off the show after an on-air argument and subsequent outburst at his personal assistant Teddy resulting in a physical altercation.[33] On April 21, Lange returned to the show and apologized, taking full responsibility for his behavior. Sirius management warned Lange that another infraction would end his employment with the show. Lange and Teddy maintained a working relationship.

Lange released his first book, Too Fat to Fish, on November 11, 2008.[9] It is a collection of memoirs from Lange's life, from his childhood to his USO trip, co-written with Anthony Bozza. Lange described them as "short stories that are real stories ... about different things that happened to me at different times in my life ... They range from funny to dark, to tragic, to sad."[9] Lange dedicated the book to Stern who also wrote its foreword.[34] The book entered the The New York Times Best Seller list at number one[35] and held the position for one week.[36] The book remained on the list's top ten for 11 weeks.[37] A paperback edition was released in June 2009 with an alternate back cover and an additional chapter.

On June 15, 2009, Lange made a controversial appearance on the first episode of Joe Buck Live where he exchanged insults with host Joe Buck that HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg said "bordered on bad taste" with a "mean-spirited" tone.[38] The show was cancelled two episodes later. Buck defended Lange and subsequently wrote the foreword to his next book.[39][40]

On November 17, 2009, Lange released his second comedy DVD, Jack and Coke, via Shout! Factory. The 80-minute set was recorded live at the Gotham Comedy Club in New York City.

On December 9, 2009, Lange made his final on-air appearance as a staff member of The Howard Stern Show.

Lange returned to the comedy stage for the first time on September 27, 2010, eight months after his suicide attempt, performing two nights at Comedy Cellar in New York City. He mentioned being in a psychiatric ward for eight months since the incident.[citation needed]

On July 6, 2011, Lange returned to radio for the first time since December 2009, guest hosting in place of Tony Bruno on Fox Sports Radio with comedian Nick DiPaolo. A caller asked Lange about returning to The Howard Stern Show, to which he replied: "That would be the greatest thing ever, but you know listen, I was on the greatest show of all time for about nine years and I put them in a very awkward situation to say the least. So what am I gonna do? But I love them all and they were great to me."[41]

In 2012, Lange made an appearance as a chemical truck driver in the Louie episode "Barney/Never." Lange's second New York Times best selling book, Crash and Burn,[42] was published in October 2013.

Lange hosted the Nick and Artie Show, which later became the Artie Lange Show until it was cancelled on April 28, 2014. The radio show had a total run of 538 episodes from October 3, 2011 (not including guest hosts). On April 15, 2014, Lange went into diabetic shock in Detroit, Michigan, and was hospitalized for several days.[43]

Lange has said he does not consider himself to be a "liberal," though he is pro-choice, a supporter of gay rights, and a supporter of unions owing to his former career as a longshoreman.[44]Crumbs Bakery offered an "Artie Lange" vanilla and chocolate cupcake, with partial proceeds going toward the Lifebeat HIV/AIDS charity until its closing.[45]

On August 6, 2008, Lange claimed to have begun an intensive outpatient rehab program after missing the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget.[46] On the August 11 airing of the show, Lange admitted to having been back on heroin for the previous seven weeks. He stated that he had gotten drunk playing pool and was offered the heroin by someone at the pool hall.[47] Comedian Richard Lewis recommended a therapist to Lange.

On the December 9, 2008 show, Lange admitted that he lied about intensive outpatient rehab and had only gone to the therapist twice, not even making it through the end of the second session.

On the June 17, 2009, episode of The Adam Carolla Podcast, Lange revealed that he had been sober for two and a half months, had lost 45 pounds, and hoped to lose 45 more.[48] On the August 10, 2009 broadcast of The Howard Stern Show, Stern noticed Lange's weight loss. Lange then confirmed that his current weight was 230 lb. and that he wished to continue in his endeavor to lose more weight.[citation needed]

On January 2, 2010, Lange claims to have attempted suicide by stabbing himself in the abdomen with a 13-inch kitchen knife nine times and drinking bleach.[49][50] He was found on the floor of his home by his mother and taken to Jersey City Medical Center, where he underwent surgery. Lange was released the following week.[51] Sirius stated that Lange would be welcomed back onto The Howard Stern Show following his recovery,[52] but he has not returned to the show since the suicide attempt. Stern has stated that he has declined Lange's offer of returning and discussing the incident as he thought it would not be good for Lange.[53]

On November 4, 2014, Lange sent out a series of tweets in which he discussed in detail a fantasy about ESPN sportscaster Cari Champion. In his fantasy, he was Thomas Jefferson, she was a slave, and he attempts to whip her but fails. She beats him up and escapes. [54] This resulted in substantial controversy both on Twitter (e.g. #ISupportCari) and in mainstream media.[55]

Lange has been banned for life from ESPN as a result of his comments; additionally, he lost a scheduled appearance on Comedy Central.[56]

^"[T]hat summer [of 1996], I booked my first [serious acting] role, in an independent movie called Puppet. ... This film, which to this day I have never seen because I don't think it's possible to purchase a copy of it anywhere at any price, starred Rebecca Gayheart and Fred Weller ... I don't know anyone who has ever seen or even heard of Puppet. All I can say is that it was screened in a theater at least once, because my manager went to see it." Lange, Artie, with Anthony Bozza and Howard Stern (2009). Too Fat to Fish, Random House Digital, Inc, ISBN 978-0-385-52657-9, p. 172